Now that I think about it, has anything like the Marvel cinematic universe been tried before?

You know, take a bunch of different characters in different situations, and tell individual stories in separate movies that all take place in the same universe in a consistent way?

I mean there have been things like Alien vs. Predator and Freddy vs. Jason, where they took characters in their own series and put them together in a stunt movie later, but was there anything meant to be coherent from the beginning?

Now that I think about it, has anything like the Marvel cinematic universe been tried before?

You know, take a bunch of different characters in different situations, and tell individual stories in separate movies that all take place in the same universe in a consistent way?

I mean there have been things like Alien vs. Predator and Freddy vs. Jason, where they took characters in their own series and put them together in a stunt movie later, but was there anything meant to be coherent from the beginning?

I'm sure there were, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Not to this level, I don't think. Expect there to be attempts when this makes Marvel/Disney/Paramount big bucks though.

Literally every review of THG upon it's release said it was great. You had reviewers calling it the best sci-fi since The Matrix. That always happens.

I only speak in truth bombs. Your heart's expectations are collateral damage.

Also, you should recognize that I don't think IM2 is bad, just disappointing.

You raved and raved about John Carter, right? And you just stated that Superman Returns was a top tier comic movie. Your tastes just seem to be a bit unique is all. Sorry you didn't like THG. Thought it was an ok movie, myself. Also, you need to watch The Rocketeer. So fucking good.

Now that I think about it, has anything like the Marvel cinematic universe been tried before?

You know, take a bunch of different characters in different situations, and tell individual stories in separate movies that all take place in the same universe in a consistent way?

I mean there have been things like Alien vs. Predator and Freddy vs. Jason, where they took characters in their own series and put them together in a stunt movie later, but was there anything meant to be coherent from the beginning?

I'm sure there were, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Weirdly, the only example that comes to my mind are the Toho monster movies.

That's because John Carter was ace. Still the best movie I've seen so far this year.

While I do think it was an ok-borderline good movie, I feel it could have been so much better. It just kind of left me with a "meh" feeling. Too bad a sequel won't be made, this property had potential to be huge.

You raved and raved about John Carter, right? And you just stated that Superman Returns was a top tier comic movie. Your tastes just seem to be a bit unique is all. Sorry you didn't like THG. Thought it was an ok movie, myself. Also, you need to watch The Rocketeer. So fucking good.

He also hates Joss Whedon and doesn't seem to have any emotional investment in Marvel's characters. Knowing that, his review of The Avengers was glowing. I'm more hyped than before having read his review.

You raved and raved about John Carter, right? And you just stated that Superman Returns was a top tier comic movie. Your tastes just seem to be a bit unique is all. Sorry you didn't like THG.

What's wrong with these opinions? I think they're totally reasonable. I haven't seen John Carter, and while I wouldn't quite go that far about Superman Returns, I still liked it plenty enough, and I thought Hunger Games was highly mediocre.

I don't see how they're unique tastes; just maybe different from what "the internet" or at least movie-GAF at large thinks :p

I don't let me anticipation or preconceptions of a film affect my final verdict.

You'll find that I was kind of negative leading up to John Carter's release. I was getting into constant arguments with people trying to tell me Stanton was one of the better directors, whilst I though Nemo was shit and Wall-E, despite it's first half was average due to what followed.

I was also pretty critical of the alien designs.

Then came Expendables first negative impressions right before my screening and I was just hoping it could be something I would enjoy. I ended up enjoying the absolute hell out of the film.

The opposite situation happened on War Horse. Most recently, I was pretty pumped to see what Cameron's team of 300 artists could do to prove what a meticulously post-conversion process could be. The answer I came back with was less than stellar and convinced me to never pay for any converted 3D ever again, no matter how good the conversion is.

People apparently read my expectations leading up to a film's release or my impressions just after and forget the rest and claim me to a be more than biased.

People apparently read my expectations leading up to a film's release or my impressions just after and forget the rest and claim me to a be more than biased.

When I post a raving impression of a film on my Facebook page, people dismiss it and say that I just love everything and have no taste. And then when I post some scathing or even lukewarm opinion about a film, I hate everything.

When I post a raving impression of a film on my Facebook page, people dismiss it and say that I just love everything and have no taste. And then when I post some scathing or even lukewarm opinion about a film, I hate everything.

eh, most of my friends on there are incredibly touchy and are just looking to twist my words at every turn. I mean, I agree completely about Facebook in general, don't get me wrong, but in my case at least it's just what people make of it. I've mostly stopped sharing opinions about... well just about anything. If I say anything that is even ever-so-slightly against the norm (which is frequent I might add) someone takes offense to it.

The most memorable moment was about a week ago when I was talking about Mission: Impossible, and someone said "oh crap, you liked Mission: Impossible? Didn't you also like Scream 4? That's too bad, I actually wanted to see M:I" I'm like... well, uhm... I wouldn't call Scream 4 a great movie by any stretch but I found it entertaining for what it was -- I, however, have no fucking idea what that has anything to do with Mission: Impossible but have a nice day?

I almost clicked that spoiler tag out of pure habit without even thinking about it because of how often people will spoiler tag their clever "punchline" to their post, and after a while you take it for granted and forget that -- every now and then -- there are actual spoilers hidden there!

Cool, thanks. One more question for those who have seen the film: Do they properly explain how magnetism discovery/the bracelet connects to the new armor for Iron Man or is it glossed over? Looking for a yes or no.

The narrative itself is absolute garbage, but once you realize it is all just an excuse to get these fanboy service (self-service in Whedon's case) scenes on screen, you just sort of roll with it.

And those scenes are where this movie lives. Of course, if you're expecting any serious drama in these scenes, you've come to the wrong movie. Whedon makes no attempt to deviate from his 'let's lighten the mood' mentality, as he is having the characters crack jokes at every single turn.

You don't feel invested in the film in terms of caring about any of the stakes at hand, just as Whedon doesn't really seem invested in the story enough to come up with anything than the most convenient and ridiculous get out of jail free cards to bail out of each narrative conflict.

But like I said, it doesn't matter. You're there to watch these character banter with one another. And it's fun to watch. Like any comedy, I'm not sure how good it will be on rewatch once you know all the jokes, but there is some very satisfying humor and chemistry between the main players - good and bad, without spoiling anything.

The Avengers is Oceans 12 with ILM pumping a whole bunch of CG destruction into the background.

It sometimes loses it's focus and in typical Whedon style, gravitates toward less interesting side characters that are paper thin. There is one part that made me roll my eyes.

Lots of cheese. A lot of the bureau/SHIELD ops dialogue is just bad.

Hulk does absolutely own the film, though without spoiling anything, I will say that I was disappointed that Whedon seemed to contradict our introduction to The Hulk, as if he wasn't sure how to write around him without changing his character.

Action was very decent. I could see Paramount looking to Whedon for the next Transdongers after Bay.

I enjoyed it enough, but probably won't revisit until it hits TV, so that the jokes might hit again.

In the end, it's an ILM showcase with some nice comedy running throughout that doesn't take itself seriously. It's fun, but doesn't come anywhere near the top-tier superhero films.

Cool, thanks. One more question for those who have seen the film: Do they properly explain how magnetism discovery/the bracelet connects to the new armor for Iron Man or is it glossed over? Looking for a yes or no.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Teh Hamburglar - I only tell you what you already know to be true in your heart.